I suppose that's a possibility. Even Craftsman, who for so long offered lifetime warranties on their proudly "made in the USA" products, has shifted and now offers both their original line of tools along with a budget "Evolv" line that is outsourced to China. They have continued to offer the product that made them a household name, but also expanded into another market.
I'm hoping Surefire can continue to deliver solid, quality lights meant for hard use (LEO and MIL), but perhaps delve into another market aimed at your average civilian. If they can produce the G2X Pro which goes for $55 online, surely they could produce 1xAA and 2xAA lights in a similar fashion (same quality and workmanship) at the same price point, no?
Say, what was the real story on the Icon line? I liked the styling of them. I bought one of each, and love the carabiner in orange. They had no questions asked service with a polite staff. I was hoping for a continuation of fun creative lights, not for rolling down the street in a fight tactical light, but some for fun for around the house, the car and air travel.
These layoffs are most likely due to the war, and increased competition. Years back, it was Surefire and only Surefire for me. Then while I never stopped being a customer, I found this place, found McGiz and other customs, which did make me more selective. For other SF customers all the new incoming lights, new models released everyday it seems has to have had an impact on them.
They will still be around and for myself they are the standard I base production lights on. Customs are something different.
keep in mind they are not a publicly traded company on any exchange, if that happens, you can forget them. They will be made in China so quick to serve the demands of stockholders, it would be awful. Just like In-N-Out, the hamburger chain, private company, with a menus that is the best, they go public, and you will get some awful food that has cheese on everything. Rolex is a wonderful example of a private company, Glock, I believe is private, Spyderco, a company many of us like here is private, Benchmade, Chris Reeve, Victorinox Swiss Army knives are too! who would want a Chinese SAK. You get the idea
and, I know Spyderco makes some knives in China, but they still make them in Japan and the USA. But, a public Spyderco would be China all the way.
Go back to some of your old favorite companies and see how they did things, how they made their products, and look at the junk they put out now!
Look at the best companies we have in the country, and the products and services they provide are all first class, and they are all privately held.
Say SF. Goes public and that switch of yours was damaged after you dropped the light, guess what? you are now paying the cost of repair. It is called the bottom line, the officers of the company are legally bound to work only for the stockholders, and must show a profit to pay investors dividends. Employees, and customers...they have no loyalty or any obligations to them at all.
This is a quick rough brief, but you get the idea. I could go in to public companies fixing the switch free out of fear of liability, and things of that nature to prevent lawsuits that cost investors, trust me you want private companies. I am a capitalist and small business owner, so I am not against business, just what is done in the name the confounded need
of the bottom line. There are good companies traded on the exchanges, Boeing is one of my favorite ones. They are not all bad, it just has to be looked at and sorted out.
PS...I forgot one of my dear companies I buy from, Oveready is private, and you get the private ownership service out of them on every purchase, and in fact if Surefire collapsed, OR could build us what we liked from SF! If I left anyone else out I am sorry in advance.